York’s Schulich School of Business and GMR Group, one of the world’s leading infrastructure developers, have signed an official agreement to build a Schulich campus in Hyderabad, India. It will be the first full-fledged campus of a major, top-ranked international business school in India.
“The GMR campus of the Schulich School of Business will be a mirror image of Schulich's Toronto campus, with first-rate facilities, international faculty and an internationally focused curriculum,” said Schulich Dean Dezsö Horváth at the signing ceremony on Thursday. “We will attract the best and the brightest students from India and abroad and prepare them for global careers in India and elsewhere in the world.”
Right: From left, Dezsö Horváth, dean of York's Schulich School of Business, President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri and G.M. Rao, founder of GMR Group, sign an official agreement to build a Schulich campus in India
As part of the partnership, Schulich will develop the learning environment and academic infrastructure while GMR Group will provide the land and the physical campus, which will include a residential facility. The campus will represent a substantial, long-term capital investment to provide a state-of-the-art setting for students, faculty, staff and executives.
“We are proud of our partnership with GMR in order to build a new Schulich campus in Hyderabad, India,” said York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri. “Our University has built a strong reputation, both here and abroad, for the quality of our academic programs, for the calibre of our graduating students and for our outreach to the business community. We are confident that this new campus will continue to inspire students in the region to take advantage of the opportunities that York has to offer.”
| Above: The architectural drawings of the GMR Campus of the Schulich School of Business, expected to open in 2013 in Hyderabad, India |
GMR Group is a Bangalore-headquartered global infrastructure major with interests in airports, energy, highways and urban infrastructure. It has successfully employed the public-private partnership model to build a portfolio of high-quality assets.
Left: G.M. Rao, founder and chair of GMR Group, and
G.M. Rao
“GMR will bring its world-class infrastructure development skills to the table, while the Schulich School of Business will bring its expertise as one of the world’s top-rated MBA and executive education providers,” said G.M. Rao, founder and chair of GMR Group, who received an honorary doctor of laws degree at York's Spring Convocation ceremony Friday.
“The campus in India will provide another high-quality option for business management education to the best of the Indian and international students interested in Asian markets, given that the world economic stage has leaned significantly towards Asia in recent years.”
After more than three years of planning, Rao said Thursday’s signing was “a moment of joy” for him.
Right: Dezsö Horváth, dean of York's Schulich School of Business
Schulich’s GMR campus will operate as a seamless extension of Schulich's Toronto campus, ensuring the same high quality of programs, faculty and students. Initially, Schulich will offer its two-year MBA program to 120 students at the Hyderabad campus, along with executive education programs. The GMR campus will eventually offer other degree and non-degree programming, including an executive MBA, post-MBA diploma in advanced management and executive education.
Groundbreaking will take place next month and the new campus is scheduled to open in September 2013. Located within GMR’s Aerotropolis development in Hyderabad, the campus will occupy approximately 15 acres of land. The Aerotropolis development will also feature a number of corporate campuses dedicated to various industries, including health care, logistics and aerospace.
Stewart Beck, Canada's high commissioner-designate to the Republic of India, said the new campus “combines the best of India with the best of Canada.” Education, he said, will be a key driver of Canada’s national brand identity throughout the world in the years to come.
Left: From left, Dezsö Horváth; school benefactor Seymour Schulich; Mamdouh Shoukri; G.M. Rao; Stewart Beck, high commissioner-designate to India; K. Balasubramanian, GMR holding board member; and V. Raghunathan, CEO of GMR Varalakshmi Foundation, at the signing of the agreement
“It is the mission of GMR Group to make a difference,” said K. Balasubramanian, member of the GMR Holding Board, at the signing. “We have a strong commitment to improving education in India. We believe business education should be global, which is why we started to talk to Schulich – we have so much in common.”
GMR Group is committed to social development initiatives and executes these through its corporate social responsibility arm, the GMR Varalakshmi Foundation. Its mandate is to develop social infrastructure and enhance the quality of life of communities around the locations where the company has a presence.